The easiest way to get someone’s face to freeze in a horrified and confused rictus like that is, when you’ve entered into conversation, to share facts, figures and nothing but cold, administrative objective truths.
It’s not showing our strengths or how good our life is going, or how cool we are that bring us closer to others. And it’s not how funny, or smooth or how popular we are among the others that builds friendships.
Because we all are vulnerable and we all suffer from the human condition and the infuriating and tumultuous pursuit of being happy. So when someone else shows us that they too are like in that way, that’s is when we truly connect and get closer to people. It’s when they see that we too are like them, with all their anxieties, shortcomings and struggles. And it all reminds us that if they are still here, and are comfortable to share those vulnerabilities with us, and that they are still okay, then maybe we will be too.